Alex's Downfall
by kuja's pain
Summary: What caused Alex Mercer's Downfall between 1 and 2? my twist
1. After Affect

Screams, bloodied memories, dark creatures, stench of death, bodies being pillaged of life, burning buildings, smoke rising high above into the skies, military attacks and dictatorship and Elizabeth Green, every day and every second it haunted him like a bad nightmare. The problem was it wasn't a nightmare; it was a reality that he lived through. From a professor and scientist to the most wanted man in American military history, to a living breathing virus that had no cure, no weakness but itself. 'Zeus' had unleashed the virus in New York himself. Back then he was known, and still to a certain few, as Alex Mercer. He was wary of the true nature mankind would go to war if they did gain this virus. Genteck, a name he despised, a bad taste in which he had to spit every time he even thought of that name. He swiped it and ran, but unbeknownst to him he was chase by personnel of the company, they followed him to the train station, he wanted to get away, bury the virus in the deepest seas, the highest peaks, anything to stop it falling into the hands of the people who would use it for evil. But he was cornered, and in a moment of desperation he smashed the glass container against the ground, unleashing the virus in New York.

Alex held his head, how could he been so stupid. He caused the single most tragic event in American history…maybe even world history. But unlike the rest of humanity in the city the virus attacked him differently; it changed him, right down to the cellular structure of the body. He woke up in a lab, being tested on, he broke free though and ran, however two marks men chased him and backed him up against the wall and shot…but he never died. From that moment on he went on a journey to discover what he was, to learn what caused the infection and to find out what he was truly capable of.

Alex lifted his head and stared out over the sky line of the city, under the heavy cover of night the buildings where alight with fire. The rain poured heavily, soaking him to the skin. It seemed like such a long time ago, but it was merely eight months ago. New York had become a war zone after his journey, the infected had no leader, it was the survival nature of every creature that the infected picked up, every man for himself. Over the eight months the military gained ground and began taking the city a bit at a time. Now they could see an end to this. Alex watched as helicopters shot at another Hive only nine blocks away. But concealed under the darkness there was no chance of them seeing him. He had become accustom to hiding in the shadows. Even though he practically singled handily took out the infected leaders and gave the military a fight chance, the world media placed the blame on him for everything, he was most wanted, very few knew the truth about Alex Mercer and his deeds to save the city, but he'll always be an outcast.

Alex didn't blame them, he could never forgive himself for what he'd done, setting this city into a mindless population of infected. Everyone he had consumed, their memories showed the suffering of what they went through, of the pain and emotion involved back in the 'Viral War' as it was dubbed. Alex didn't consider his being as a single entity anymore, instead he was many, Alex Mercer was nothing more then a small part of him, a beginning to a much bigger picture. He now called himself Zeus as well.

Standing up Alex cracked his neck. Becoming stiff from bending over the ledge to watch the action taking place, putting his head back he let his face become wet with the rain, his hair matted due to the dampness. Closing his eyes he exhaled. The sounds of guns and the smell of smoke and the stench of bodies filled the air. Lowering his head he looked out onto the city, pulling his hood up Alex jumped off the building. Heading for his safe house, his sister's flat. Alex just wanted rest, Alex was peace, Alex wanted a way out of this, Alex wanted to be human again.

"FIRE!" The commanders voice roared through the headset. Cassie voice blared as her gun shot at multiple infected. The blaze of the Hive burnt into the night's sky and lit the entire area. Seven units surrounded the Hive, infected poured out everywhere and hunters tried to fight the assault on their home. The walls of the building were slowly falling down and the bodies of the infected littered the area. Cassie reloaded, even with her army clothes and helmet she was dripping wet. Her slender fingers placed the magazine into the gun and she continued to shoot. She was a new recruit into the Army, and she loved it, adore the combat and the shire smile on her face was like that of a mad women possessed. Her dark curls peaked from under her helmet. In the fire lit night her skin seemed as if rubbed by charcoal.

Again Cassie had to reload her gun. This time more difficult than the last as her hands where covered in both a mixture of sweat, rain water and grease. Once the familiar click was heard she let loose another round at the horrid creatures.

"Oi!" A male solider shouted from her right, she glanced at him and could see the smile on his face as well, his teeth almost illuminated in the present light, "This bastards are putting up a good fight aren't they Bambi" His voice thick with a southern accent. Cassie smiled, Sean had given her that nickname when they joined the army together, they met in the registration office and since became good friends.

"Good fight?" Cassie questioned, her voice was layered with an English accent, from the midlands which housed cities such as Birmingham, "This is fuckin' torture" Her bullet rammed right through a hunter's head "I can't understand why they have us out doing this?" Her voice breaking during heavy volleys of rounds that shot at the Hive.

"Don't ya know?" He paused to reload his weapon "This is all political bullshit! We were shipped out here beca…" Sean narrowly dodged lamppost thrown at him by a hunter "Motherfucker" Sean grabbed a grenade hanging from his jacket and in one graceful and sweeping motion pulled the pin and threw it over towards the hunter which was being protect by the onslaught by a group of low level infected, the second the grenade hit the ground an explosion ripped them apart and debris was thrown everywhere, Sean and Cassie along with the rest of their squad had to duck to avoid getting hit. "Anyways" He screamed, firing again, "It's because it's political bullshit. No one wants to wipe the arse of a fat man taking a shit, so they throw us guys in to do it, small mindless fuckers who will do anything daddy tells them to"

"You're just a winey prick" Cassie joked, for the next five minutes the fighting continued. Neither side giving in, eventually the military looked like they were taking control when a mighty roar erupted from the Hive. Cassie and all her fellow military groups stopped, having to hold their heads because of the shire volume of that deep ripping voice. The front wall of the Hive fell, and nine Supreme Hunters, easily twice the size of the normal hunter. "What the fuck is that?" Cassie whispered suddenly having her heart being encased in ice, as if a hand grabbed it. A lump formed in her throat.

The lead Supreme Hunter walked forward slightly, its four legs breaking anything it stepped on. The army had turned silent, the only sounds heard was the burning of wood, falling bricks, and the heavy breathing of soldiers. The Supreme Hunter looked around at the seven units and then threw his head back and roared, followed by the other Supreme Hunters.

"You…think we should leave?" Sean muttered but he couldn't even hear his own voice. This was suicide. His body had become rigid with fear, his hand cramped around his gun and his eyes bulged in his head. The Supreme Hunters stopped roaring and then ran for the units. Some fled, while other opened fire. Cassie however wasn't going to back down now. No matter how big.

She grabbed her grenades and then threw them, three in a row and shot at them. She cried at the top of her voice, Cassie wasn't aiming at anything in particular, she just shot anything that moved. Tanks were thrown like rag dolls, bodies of army personnel tossed about and devoured, their screams filling the night. The Supreme Hunters tore everything apart, nothing stood up to them.

Cassie fell over and dropped her gun, she landed hard on her back. She tried to pull herself up straight away but a sharp pain ran up her spine. Cassie fought against the pain, and reached out to retrieve her gun, everything around her was being obliterated, as she crawled and stretched out to grab the butt of the AK-47 a tank flew passed her body, she didn't take notice of where it landed, she kept her mind occupied, her mission was to get that gun. As her fingers touched the black metal a claw ripped into her right leg. Cassie screamed loudly, her voice breaking. Tears streaked down her face. Her teeth gritted between whimpers.

The Supreme Hunter snarled before burying it head into Cassie's body, devouring her. No matter how good the army was doing in defeating the virus, there was always a few battles lost…

Alex landed on the rooftop of Dana's apartment building. Dana was lucky in that her residency was in an area that the virus didn't reach. Alex looked over his shoulder to see flames burning high on the other side of the city, he heard the screams and the clashing of a mighty battle taken place. Alex closed his eyes and turned away, one time he'd have ran off to help in the fight, but now he didn't care, he lost that emotion along with his humanity almost a year ago now. Alex rarely fought, only to protect Dana and only to escape capture. Placing his hand in his jeans pocket he pulled out a key, he fingered it for a bit, seemingly dazed. Alex did that a lot nowadays, day dream, about his past life. Shaking his head Alex opened the door and climbed down the stairs.

Dana turned off the news once she heard the key in the door. Looking over the couch she saw Alex walk in and lock the door. He turned to her and smiled, smiled warmly. She was the only person he showed any affection for. He walked over and sat down beside her. He pulled down his hood and looked at her. They sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke, his deep voice filling the room, "They tried to take down the last Hive tonight" She nodded numbly at him. Secretly she was still uncomfortable with what he was, but he had yet to noticed, "I think they might've lost, by the sound of it"

Her blonde hair framed her face, her blue eyes met his green ones "Shouldn't you have given them a hand?" She asked, her timid voice almost the opposite to his, "I mean you could've helped?" She questioned.

Alex shrugged, "I left that life behind me long ago" His reply was short, simple and sweet.


	2. The Beginning

"Alex…you can't escape your destiny…you are…the one to bring the end of the world…become an angel of death…this is your purpose…your only purpose" The voice whispered silently almost through the room, the sleeping form of Zeus now stirring from his slumber, the eerie feeling of being watched, it all felt like he was drowning and couldn't do a thing to prevent it. Zeus sat up and rubbed his eyes, it almost stung. Standing up he stretched in Dana's apartment. He could feel his joints creaking and aching with every movement, for a man with practically limitless power he sure felt weak, like an old man. Walking across the darkened room he pulled open the blinds and stared out amongst the city, the smouldering thick smoke rising from the Hive that was attacked last night. New York looked grand otherwise, normal people going about their daily business, heading to work, going socialising. The streets where filled. Zeus stared into Central Park. The lush green soft and almost brittle as it was bathed in the morning glow of the sun. It was still a new idea for him, to see New York lively and unthreatened after everything that happened. Turning around he now looked into the light filled apartment where it seemed better looking in the dark. Stained carpet, damp walls, a dusty old couch with a small blanket tossed on it, even the television looked like it was from the fifties. In the far corner was Dana's computer, the screen dirty from lack of cleaning, and the board beside it with newspaper clippings hanging from it.

Pulling down his hood Zeus walked over to the TV and turned it on, switching through channels until he arrived at the one he wanted, the news. Sitting back on the couch he stretched out his legs. His eyes watched the programme lifelessly, not really caring about anything, until what he wanted to hear came up, his eyes sprang to life and he sat up, picking up the remote, he increased the volume.

"Last night military officials attacked the last Virus strong hold in New York, although unsuccessful they did decrease the number of infected greatly, only nine creatures remain, these are known as the Supreme Hunters" Zeus nose wriggled in irritation "The causalities are still not full accounted for but here we have a panel of experts" Turning to her left the female anchor-woman spoke to an elderly man in his late sixties "Prof. Herald of Yale thank you for joining us" Zeus zoned out and turned the TV back down, then from there proceeded to get up and head to the kitchen, of course he heard his name being mentioned "This is believed to be the work of Alex Mercer" Shaking his head he entered the kitchen.

The kitchen was no better than the sitting room, dishes in the sink and old bowls with food on the table, Zeus grimaced, "How much time does she spend on that computer?" He mumbled softly. The morning light shone through the kitchen window above the skin, he turned the kettle on and pulled a mug out of the press, luckily there was one left, the rest where in the sink. The kettle roared as steam poured out the top and Zeus placed coffee and sugar into his mug before filling it with boiling water, the smell assaulted his nose. Taking small sips, he sighed with delight. Although he never ate food, the small joy of a caffeine hit he could still enjoy.

Dana came through the door and nodded at her brother before heading to the sink to rinse out a bowl. Her attire a mere t-shirt and shorts. Not a word was said between the two until Dana sat down to have her breakfast, cereal with milk…that looked gone off. "You must take better care of yourself" He spoke directly to her, his eyes bearing into the top of her head as she leaned down to take another bite. After a few crunches she looked at him and shrugged. "I'm serious, this place is a mess, and I dare not imagine what lurks in your bedroom" He was truly concerned.

"Bite me; I'm not in the mood for your self-righteousness" She was very much a cranky woman in the mornings "Maybe later" Dana went back to eating her morning meal and Zeus threw back the mug of coffee. Placing it beside the skin, he once again looked outside to see birds in the light blue sky.

"Another beautiful day though isn't it?" He stood with his back to her.

"Meh" She said with a full mouth. "Like any other day really, just a different name"

He chuckled, "Your powers of perspective don't fail at all do they?" A smile crept onto his face.

"We'll see" She stared at his back, tracing the image on the back of his leather jacket with her eyes, "What's the plan for today?"

Zeus thought about his answer, "I'm not sure, maybe go see the remnants of the Hive?"

"I heard the news when you put on the TV" Her voice flat, "There's still nine left…" She paused, "You plan to lend a hand?"

"No, just curious" He turned to her and pulled his hood up. "Just curious" He repeated.

"Curiosity killed the cat"

"Meow" He joked, "Do I look like a feline?"

"Yes, one with extremely sharp claws" She took another few bites and drank the milk from the bowl. Zeus looked at her with a calm expression and shook his head; he leaned against the skin, and folded his arms. "What?" She asked, catching him out of the corner of her eye.

"You need a man" This time she looked at him with a serious expression, almost offended.

"Seriously, Alex, you know I'm…"

"A lesbian? Yeah" He didn't mind his sister's sexually, "But at least a companion" He titled his head.

Folding her arms now in the chair she turned to him and crossed her slender legs, "Alex, you think I can bring anyone back here?" Her eyebrows rose.

"Yeah…" He answered slowly, almost scared. He could take on hordes of infected, crush tanks with a single blow, yet he feared his older sister more than anything in the world.

"And what do I say Alex?" She stood up "Here" She opened her arms to him, "This is my brother, you might of heard of him, Alex Mercer" She folded them again, "Yes the infamous guy that's wanted by FBI, CIA, Police, Army every organisation you could think of" Turning her back to him she wandered over to the door, "I'm going to get dressed, I'll see ya later bro"

Zeus began to walk after her to leave, however before exiting the kitchen he heard his sister shout "By the way, you can wash you mug if your so concerned about the state of this place" Smiling again Zeus loved and feared that fiery attitude.

Climbing down the fire escape to the wet and mice infected alley way beside the building Zeus landed with a soft thud, and closed his eyes, black wavy goo covered him and vanished leaving behind a male in the mid-thirties. He wore a green suit with a red tie and white shirt, his hair was brown and combed to the side while his eyes where now a dark brown. The sound of black shoes hitting off the cobble pavement echoed in the alley way as he walked onto the side walk and joined the rest of humanity, he smiled as he felt the sun kiss his skin.

The office was stuffy. The light beaming through the blinds and windows caused the heat to rise. The room was predominantly wooden from the big wooden desk littered with paper sheets, the walls layered with shelves, and the floor a shiny ebony colour. On the desk lay photos of a man with his family, his early as a cadet in the army and a picture of him and his parents. The room tasted stale and smelt of strong tobacco. An ashtray with plenty of cigarette butts lay beside him. A whiskey glass full of water lay beside that too. His body sank into the soft black leather chair as his frame hunched over with his elbow on the desk and his other arm holding his head. His face was old, winkles lined his face like cobwebs and his green eyes glossy from age. His white shirt covered a ever growing belly, no longer flat and strong from his youth. His arm tanned and spotted with freckles. Taking off his glasses he rubbed eyes with the base of his hand.

Annoyance and anger seethed through him. Last night was supposed to be a success, everything finished and done with, they even had a body ready to plant as Alex Mercer making the general public believe that the army had done its job and everyone's a winner. But the sheet of paper in which he read before him stated otherwise, last night was a shambles. A kick in the teeth. They did not expect to find nine Supreme Hunters lurking in that Hive. Placing his glasses back on the aged general kept reading till the end, only when a knock came to the door did he put the report down.

From the glass door a man in his early thirties came in, his figure proud showed his military uniform, with multiple medals adoring his chest. He saluted the elderly man, "You called for me sir?" His body straight and unmoving from all the years of training,

"Yes, tell me" He got up slowly from his chair, his body pulled itself out of the leather groove. He huffed with effort, "Why is it" He walked over towards the man and held the sheet of paper in his face, the man's face began sweating, from both heat and fear, "That our unit was destroyed" His face became hard "In mere minutes!" He spoke in a voice that would grip any man's heart in a ball of ice.

The young captain swallowed hard and looked at the general in the eye, "It was unexpected sir. You troops were unprepared, we honestly thought that all Hunters had been disposed of and it was just infected left"

The general smiled, a mocking smile "You think?" He laughed loudly "You think?" He pulled a light out of his pocket and set fire to the corner of the paper, the captain watched with nerved anticipation. "You don't think" He walked away and dropped the paper into the steel bin. After he opened a window to let out smoke, "I do the thinking" He placed his hands behind his back, looking up at the clock he read it to see that it was 10:45 in the morning, then he turned back to the captain, "And this falls on my ass, the years I devoted to this institution and yet I have maggots like you fucking me up the arse" He walked briskly over and whispered into the man's ear "Do you like fucking me in the ass? Do you captain Lynch?"

"No general Sky" Lynch responded meekly. His head shaking.

"Then do your job and stop being a dick weed" He roared, Lynch flinched. "Leave me be" He waved his hand; Lynch jumped, saluted and walked out without a noise. Sky returned to his chair and lowered himself slowly into the chair. Picking up the telephone he, began to dial a number, and waited for a womanly voice to answer. "Miss Kennedy? Tell me is David there? Yeah it's Sky, tell him I want all the files on Blacklight, the New York Virus Outbreak and Alex Mercer, we need to clean up this shit" With that he placed the telephone back down softly.

Zeus sat with his legs dangling over the edge, his back against the stone wall, he sat forty stories up. His arms where in his pockets, his hood hid his upper face leaving only his nose and mouth visible, he had changed his appearance once again when he got atop of the building. He stared over a few blocks to see the Hive was now nothing more than a blackened pile of rubble and ash. Using his Viral Sight he could see the tracks left from the Hunters and they lead to the manhole cover nearby. It seems that the Hunters had gone underground. How amusing. The building upon which he sat was in the 'red zone'. That said he was able to keep low under the radar. Since clearing out most of the infected they took away the sensors that enable them to signal his approach and even detect him. Helicopter flew around and tanks patrolled the streets. It was a clear two square miles closed off. They were to release this area to the public in two weeks, sadly with last night's events; it probably won't be open for another month…that's if they catch the Hunters. Yet it wasn't his job to chase the Hunters anymore. His business with Genteck was over. Zeus got up without taking his hands out of his pockets. "I suppose I might as well go, nothing more to see" The breeze skimmed across the city and caressed Zeus's lower face.

In the blink of an eye the entire erupted into flames and black smoke filled the air. Sound of guns blasted through the city and the sound of horrid creatures roared. As quickly as Zeus saw this, the city returned to normal. Immediately Zeus grabbed his head, pressing his temples where the pain was the worst. "You can't escape fate" A soft womanly voice whispered to him, "Alex Mercer" Zeus roared as he fell to his knees, pressing ever harder on his head. Then like a heavy downpour of rain the vision was gone. Zeus looked up, confused and bewildered. Looking around he checked to see if anyone was there. No a single soul was within three hundredth yards of him. Getting groggily to his feet, he stood up, straightening up he suddenly felt filled with rage. Something he hadn't experienced since his fight with Genteck.

Balling his fists he stared down upon the tanks, his face contorted into an evil scowl, and then he felt like he'd lost control of himself. His body morphed into his armour, his hands into giant hulk like claws and he stepped to the edge, aiming at a tank, he dropped.

Dana sat at her computer, her eyes weak from staring at the screen. She was an expert hacker. In her youth when Alex and herself where tossed around between homes she came across a group of teenagers in school who dedicated themselves to the art of hacking. She had picked it up quick. In fact that group had nicknamed her "Fortress". Dana could tear down defences as quick as she put them up. After moving to another school she kept it up. She had taken all she needed to know from those hackers and now she was in a league of her own.

Hacking into government files she scanned through anything of interest. But nothing caught her attention. She then moved onto FBI, CIA and still nothing, the odd file on agents and spies, a few old ones on her brother and finally some war files that didn't bother her. She logged off and sighed deeply. Turning her head she stared out the window onto the beautiful day. The warmth from the sun had filled her room and Dana grinned secretly to herself, maybe it was time to get out of this apartment. She glanced around, Alex was right, it was a kip, but that didn't faze her, instead she picked up a few clothes on the chair beside the couch where Alex slept and put them on. A green turtle neck, blue ripped jeans and green Converse.

Dana stepped outside and walked, not knowing where to go, but she just wondered. She began to think, about her life and her brother. Ever since fifteen she knew that her sexuality was different to the other kids in school, she tried men, but they didn't satisfy her the way a woman could. She began experimenting. Like her brother she was gifted with a scientific mind, but instead of physics and chemistry Dana used it for the exploration of the human body. She was fascinated with the differences between the male and female anatomy. That's why for a while she was bi-sexual. She wanted to know every aspect of both sexes and compare them. During this period she knew that slowly she became more favourable towards the female sex.

Dana had many girlfriends but once she moved to New York she only had one night flings. The young female had a first love and still couldn't forget her, before moving, Dana had deeply loved a girl called Alison. She warmly remember the woman's long curly black hair, the full red lips and those hypnotising aqua blue eyes. Alison was from an Irish family and her accent would always remain with Dana, that beautiful Donegal accent.

Now her mind wandered to her brother. Alex Mercer, Zeus, the Infected One. He had accumulated many names. But to Dana he would always be the overprotective big brother that she had loved. Had. Alex she knew was dead. He passed away in Penn Station once Alex shattered the vial. In way Dana was conflicted, would she have done the same if she where him? Did Alex know about the consequences of what he would unleash? Dana shook her head, of course he couldn't. A simple test tube of liquid couldn't cause one of the world's biggest cities to be torn apart by its population.

She ached for the warm hug of her brother again, all he was now was cold whenever she embraced him. Most of all, it scared her that at any second Alex could devour her, consume her and what would she be then? A mere cell in his body? Could she even die if she was absorbed?

Before she knew it, Dana had reached Time's Square. Inhaling the polluted fumes through her nostrils, the young woman smiled, _"At least no one could harm me? Even the military are scared of Alex"_ It was hard to pinpoint what he had become. Was he a new breed of human, or the Blacklight Virus perfected.


End file.
